RRND Email Full Text (Scheduled)

  • Four ICE gang abductee deaths in four days spark alarm as abductions continue

    Source: Washington Post

    “Four people in immigration detention have died over a four-day period this month, increasing concern among advocates and some members of Congress over detention conditions. One death took place Dec. 12, another two took place on Dec. 14 and the fourth on Dec. 15, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement news releases. … The recent deaths bring total detainee deaths to 30 in 2025, the highest number since 2004, when 32 people died in ICE custody.” (12/20/25)

    https://archive.is/h0E7T

  • US-based pirates steal second ship off Venezuela coast

    Source: USA Today

    “The United States interdicted a tanker off the coast of Venezuela, two sources familiar with the raid told USA TODAY on Dec. 20, just days after President Donald Trump announced a ‘blockade’ of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. The sources identified the vessel as the Centuries, which maritime records show is a Panama-flagged oil tanker. The ship is not under U.S. sanctions, the sources said. Marine traffic trackers showed the Centuries was off the coast of Venezuela in the waters of Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island. The Centuries is a 333-meter-long oil tanker that last docked in Singapore in October, according to vessel tracker Maritime Optima. Its reported seizure would mark the second time in recent weeks that the United States has seized a tanker near Venezuela and comes amid a large U.S. military build-up in the region.” (12/20/25)

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/20/exclusive-us-seizes-ship-venezuela/87861284007/

  • Pakistan: Khan, wife sentenced to 17 years in corruption case

    Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]

    “Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 17 years in prison after a Pakistani court found them guilty of illegally retaining and selling valuable state gifts. The sentence, handed down on Saturday, capped a years-long saga that saw the duo accused of selling various gifts – including jewellery from the Saudi Arabian government – at far below market value. They have denied all charges. In order to keep gifts from foreign dignitaries, Pakistani law requires officials to purchase them at market value and to declare profits from any sales. But prosecutors claimed that the couple profited from the items after purchasing them at an artificially low price of $10,000, compared with their market rate of $285,521.” (12/20/25)

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/20/ex-pakistan-pm-imran-khan-wife-sentenced-to-17-years-in-corruption-case

  • Musk wins appeal that restores 2018 Tesla pay deal now worth about $139 billion

    Source: Yahoo! Finance

    “Elon Musk’s 2018 pay package from Tesla, once worth $56 billion, was restored by the Delaware Supreme Court on Friday, nearly two years after a lower court struck down the compensation deal as ‘unfathomable.’ The ruling overturns a decision that had prompted a ​furious backlash from Musk and damaged Delaware’s business-friendly reputation. It assures Musk greater control over the company, which he has said is his main concern, even after ‌shareholders recently approved a new pay package that could be worth $878 billion if Tesla meets certain targets. The Supreme Court said a 2024 ruling that rescinded the pay package had been improper and inequitable to Musk. The remedy of total ‌rescission ‘leaves Musk uncompensated for his time and efforts over a period of six years,’ the 49-page ruling issued on Friday stated.” (12/20/25)

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/musk-wins-appeal-restores-2018-212635609.html

  • Australia: Regime plans tougher flag censorship laws because flags kill people … oh, wait

    Source: ABC News

    “The Australian state of New South Wales is proposing to ban public displays of Islamic State group flags or extremist symbols after a mass shooting driven by antisemitism killed 15 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. Under draft laws to be debated by the state Parliament, publicly displaying the IS flag or symbols from other extremist groups will be offenses punishable by up to two years in prison and fines. The state’s premier, Chris Minns, also said chants of ‘globalize the intifada’ will be banned and police would be given greater powers to demand protesters remove face coverings at demonstrations.” (12/20/25)

    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/australian-state-plans-tougher-laws-displaying-extremist-flags-128580980

  • NY: Stefanik drops out of governor’s race, won’t seek reelection to Congress

    Source: United Press International

    “Republican U.S. House Rep. Elise Stefanik on Friday announced she was ending her run for New York governor after 1 1/2 months and won’t seek another term in Congress. On Nov. 7, Stefanik launched a campaign bid in an effort to challenge Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in November 2026. ‘While spending precious time with my family this Christmas season, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Governor and will not seek re-election to Congress,’ Stefanik, 41, wrote on X. … Stefanik has represented the rural conservative upstate New York district since 2014, becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at that time.” (12/19/25)

    https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/12/19/NY-Elise-Stefanik-drops-out-governors-race/5811766183265/

  • France: Court rejects regime’s request to suspend Shein

    Source: Deutsche Welle [Germany]

    “A Paris court on Friday rejected the French government’s request to suspend Chinese online platform Shein. The government made the request for a three-month suspension after public outcry sparked by the presence on the platform of child-like sex dolls and other illicit items. Besides child-like sex dolls, illegal weapons and banned medications were also found on the platform. The court said in its Friday ruling that suspending Shein would have been ‘disproportionate,’ as the offending products had been removed from the platform.” (12/19/25)

    https://www.dw.com/en/france-court-rejects-request-to-suspend-shein/a-75247011


  • A War No American Needs: Confrontation with Venezuela Brings Neither Security nor Benefit

    Source: Antiwar.com
    by Greg Pence

    The United States finds itself at a moment when the gap between power and prudence has rarely been more visible. As American society grapples with structural inflation, deep social fragmentation, a crisis of institutional credibility, and the steady erosion of public trust, renewed talk of military confrontation with Venezuela is once again circulating within Washington’s political and security circles. In recent months, this rhetoric has intensified, driven in part by President Donald Trump and influential figures around him – most notably Senator Marco Rubio – who have pushed an increasingly confrontational line toward Caracas, bringing the country closer to the threshold of conflict. These developments are not the product of a genuine threat, but rather reflect a dangerous habit in U.S. foreign policy: transforming domestic deadlock into external military adventure.” (12/19/25)

    https://original.antiwar.com/greg_pence/2025/12/18/a-war-no-american-needs-confrontation-with-venezuela-brings-neither-security-nor-benefit/

  • Protecting a Societal Cancer with a Web of Lies

    Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
    by Patrick Barron

    “There is a deadly cancer that is eating away at Western society — welfare. It is supported by a web of lies that are so pervasive that no one dare question them. Two of the most ingrained are: * There is no substitute for helping the unfortunate than government-provided welfare on demand; *The monetary stimulus from welfare spending adds to aggregate demand and helps to stimulate the economy.” (12/19/25)

    https://mises.org/mises-wire/protecting-societal-cancer-web-lies

  • Notes on Anarcho-Capitalism

    Source: Free Association
    by Sheldon Richman

    “I’m pretty sure I won’t be around long enough to see anarcho-capitalism — or what I call market-ordered anarchism — prevail in the United States. I’m just as sure that I won’t see government strictly limited to protecting individual rights and never violating them (if that’s coherent). So that’s a wash. But it doesn’t follow that discussing individualist, pro-property, free-market alternatives to the current, virtually out-of-control political system in America is time wasted. Far from it! If we want to progress toward liberty, we’d better get a move on.” (12/19/25)

    https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2025/12/tgif-notes-on-anarcho-capitalism.html

  • Like the Iraq War, but Worse

    Source: The Atlantic
    by Jonathan Chait

    “Trump did not oppose the Iraq War at the time, but he did present himself as a critic after it went south. His most consistent reason for his opposition was that America had failed to seize Iraq’s oil, despite the fact that doing so would have been a war crime. … Trump has long benefited from his contrast with the second Bush administration’s failed experiments with nation building. He has dismissed his Republican critics as neoconservatives, and some left-wing populists credit him for moving his party away from Bush-style interventionism. Yet Trump’s saber-rattling against Venezuela confirms that his argument with neoconservatism was never about the hubris of exporting democracy or a faith in pacifistic leadership. Trump’s main complaint about Bush was that he squandered an opportunity to enrich the U.S. by caring too much about international law and the dignity of the Iraqi people.” (12/19/25)

    https://archive.is/SK238

  • Military contractors reap big profits in war-to-homeland pipeline

    SourceS: Responsible Statecraft
    by Stavroula Pabst

    “By leveraging the dual-use nature of many of their products, where defense technologies can be integrated into the commercial sector and vice versa, Pentagon contractors like Palantir, Skydio, and General Atomics have gained ground at home for surveillance technologies — especially drones — proliferating war-tested military tech within the domestic sphere.” (12/19/25)

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/domestic-war-tech/

  • Epstein and the Clintons: As Hillary Launched Presidential Campaign, Epstein Feared Exposure

    Source: Drop Site
    by Ryan Grim & Murtaza Hussain

    “Since Jeffrey Epstein’s second arrest in 2019, the Clintons have spent considerable effort distancing themselves from the enigmatic financier, and they are currently fending off House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, who threatened contempt proceedings after the political power couple refused to testify this week regarding their relationship to Epstein. … Yet as Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign ramped up, it was Epstein looking to duck the Clintons. Epstein was facing increasingly dire legal consequences in South Florida, stemming from his years-long sexual exploitation of young women and girls. The glare of a presidential campaign risked unraveling what Epstein and his friend and ally Ghislaine Maxwell had so effectively constructed over the years, as they were increasingly associated with the spectacle of ‘Clintonworld.'” (12/19/25)

    https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-hillary-bill-clinton-ghislaine-maxwell

  • Why Trump’s “peace deals” keep unraveling

    Source: Washington Post
    by Keith B Richburg

    “Signing a ceasefire deal before the cameras is usually just the beginning. Changing the realities on the ground — and getting combatants to lay down their weapons — requires a more sustained level of follow-through and commitment. It’s a lesson to keep in mind as Trump aims for what would be the grandest peace deal of all: an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the war about to enter its fourth bloody year. The Ukraine war is itself the product of entering into flimsy peace agreements and not following through.” (12/19/25)

    https://archive.is/UJcfQ

  • Netflix’s Ownership of Warner Bros. Would Change Filmmaking Incentives

    Source: Independent Institute
    by Matthew B Crawford

    “However, the ownership of Warner Bros. shakes out, it is worth thinking about the intuitions that caused people in the film and television business to freak out about the prospect of Netflix taking over a major studio. Last Thursday, a group of top film producers and other industry players sent a joint letter to congressional representatives, urging them to block the deal. It was published anonymously for fear of retaliation by Netflix and expressed skepticism that films produced under Netflix would continue to be released in theatres, despite Netflix’s assurances. The film industry group pointed out that Netflix’s incentives are such that they do not want people sitting in theatres, as this represents time not spent on the platform. The industry letter suggests the whole ecosystem of Hollywood would be put at risk with this deal, and the survival of an art form would be put in doubt.” (12/19/25)

    https://www.independent.org/article/2025/12/19/netflixs-ownership-warner-bros-filmmaking-incentives/

  • Stop Fixating on CEO Pay Ratios and Start Fixing Labor Markets

    Source: The Daily Economy
    by Peter C Earle

    “Eye-catching statistics about executive compensation tell us nothing about fairness, and distract from the real drivers of wage growth and worker prosperity.” (12/19/25)

    https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/stop-fixating-on-ceo-pay-ratios-and-start-fixing-labor-markets/

  • Against Against Boomers

    Source: Astral Codex Ten
    by Scott Alexander

    “Hating Boomers is the new cool thing. … ‘You don’t hate Boomers enough’ has become a popular Twitter catchphrase. Richard Hanania, who has tried hating every group once, has decided that hating Boomers is his favorite. Some people might say we just experienced a historic upwelling of identity politics, that it was pretty terrible for everyone involved, and that perhaps we need a new us-vs-them conflict like we need a punch to the face. This, the Boomer-haters will tell you, would be a mistaken generalization. This time, we have finally discovered a form of identity politics which carves reality at its joints, truly separating the good and bad people. I think these arguments fall short. Even if they didn’t, the usual bias against identity politics should make us think twice about pursuing them too zealously.” (12/19/25)

    https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/against-against-boomers

  • The Trials Of An Unpopular Populist

    Source: The Weekly Dish
    by Andrew Sullivan

    “You very rarely see President Trump address the nation the way presidents used to. You know the drill: seated at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, talking candidly and intimately to the American people. Trump tried it with Covid in 2020 and it didn’t quite work. Stiff, awkward, rote, interspersed with sniffs, it’s a bit sad in retrospect. He just can’t do intimacy. He can’t do reassurance. His fireside manner has always been gasoline. This is a real weakness for a president, who may, from time to time, be required to comfort — as Clinton did after the Oklahoma bombing, Bush after 9/11, and Obama after the church mass shooting in Charleston. It’s also a serious flaw if you need to rally people in tough or challenging times. But Trump just can’t do that. He can do other things. But not that.” (12/19/25)

    https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-trials-of-an-unpopular-populist-e64

  • Remembering Rob Reiner’s Masterpiece

    Source: Law & Liberty
    by Titus Techera

    “Reiner deserves to be remembered because he inspired great affection in millions and millions of people, for, as of now, two generations. Since it’s Christmas, it would be best to remember him by going back to The Princess Bride, which is less of its time than the other movies and more fitting for a family viewing. … More than the funny dialogue or the irony of pointing out the structure of a fairy tale, what makes The Princess Bride such a clever story is the skill with which it brings out what it feels like to be a boy.” (12/19/25)

    https://lawliberty.org/remembering-rob-reiners-masterpiece/

  • How the Charter School Industry’s Newest Scheme Could Be “the Death of Public Schools”

    Source: CounterPunch
    by Jeff Bryant

    “The letters started coming in October 2025. In the first wave, according to the Florida Policy Institute (FPI), “at least 22 school districts in Florida” got letters alerting them that charter school operators, including a for-profit charter school management company based in Miami, intended to use a state law recently enacted to open new charter schools on the campuses of existing public schools beginning August 2027. … With school enrollments in steep decline in nearly every district in the state, fear of a potential mass charter school industry takeover of public school spaces—along with the costs local districts will incur—looms over district leaders across the state and strikes them as a clear existential threat.” [editor’s note: Not sure how this is a bad thing. It exposes “charter schools” as what they are (part of the “public education” monopoly), meaning that monopoly might die off more quickly – TLK] (12/19/25)

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/12/19/how-the-charter-school-industrys-newest-scheme-could-be-the-death-of-public-schools/

  • Ukrainian Security Guarantees Are Dangerous and Counterproductive

    Source: The American Conservative
    by Josh Shifrinson

    “A security guarantee for Ukraine is a terrible idea. Even as it would reverse Trump’s long-standing opposition to further enmeshing the United States with Ukraine, a guarantee carries a range of dangers for the United States, Ukraine, and the European NATO allies while delivering few benefits. Whether offered as part of a peace deal or ceasefire, the guarantee may do little to deter Russia. Further, should a conflict break out, the arrangement is poised to trigger a fundamental crisis in U.S.–European relations. Above all, the guarantee promises to complicate rather than ameliorate Ukraine’s own understandable desire to find security for itself in the shadow of its Russian neighbor.” (12/19/25)

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/ukrainian-security-guarantees-are-dangerous-and-counterproductive/

  • Online Gaming’s Final Boss: The Copyright Bully

    Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
    by Corynne McSherry & Kit Walsh

    “Since earliest days of computer games, people have tinkered with the software to customize their own experiences or share their vision with others. From the dad who changed the game’s male protagonist to a girl so his daughter could see herself in it, to the developers who got their start in modding, games have been a medium where you don’t just consume a product, you participate and interact with culture. For decades, that participatory experience was a key part of one of the longest-running video games still in operation: Everquest. Players had the official client, acquired lawfully from EverQuest’s developers, and modders figured out how to enable those clients to communicate with their own servers and then modify their play experience – creating new communities along the way. Everquest’s copyright owners implicitly blessed all this. But the current owners, a private equity firm called Daybreak, want to end that independent creativity.” (12/19/25)

    https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/online-gamings-final-boss-copyright-bully